Who is on top after testing? Our verdict on the F1 2026 pecking order

We don’t have long for the talking to stop and to find out exactly who will be on top in Formula 1 this season. 

The 11 teams and 22 drivers are preparing to head to Melbourne for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 8 March, following three intriguing pre-season tests in Barcelona and Bahrain across the past month. 

Pre-season testing forms a particularly murky picture of competitiveness, given the many variables and unknowns, and that’s before F1’s top four teams decided to play the ultimate game of pass the parcel when it comes to who they think is leading the way. 

It is incredibly easy to get carried away with outright lap times, but this alone can be misleading and should always be taken with a rather large pinch of salt. Trying to read between the lines of deception and the cloak-and-dagger approach is notoriously challenging, but provides one of the most fascinating and enjoyable times of the year. 2026 is especially captivating, given it has welcomed arguably F1’s biggest ever regulation shake-up. 

After analysing the data available to us and watching the action unfold on-track, Crash.net has had a go at forming a running order for the start of the new F1 season…

1. Mercedes 

Mercedes was widely tipped as the pre-season favourites before a wheel was even turned in 2026, and the German manufacturer has lived up to that billing. 

The Silver Arrows completed more laps than any other team throughout pre-season testing despite running into some issues that cost it track time - most notably an engine change that curtailed Kimi Antonelli. Aside from  the reliability concerns, the W17 looked strong out on track. 

Mercedes flirted towards the top of the timesheets, but ultimately did not come away from Bahrain with the fastest time. However, its rivals believe Mercedes is holding back its true pace and expect last season’s runner-up to unleash another level of performance when the competitive action begins. 

2. Ferrari 

Ferrari caught the eye throughout pre-season and particularly in the second Bahrain test, where Charles Leclerc set a series of headline-grabbing lap times on the final day of running to put the Scuderia top of the timesheet. 

Ferrari enjoyed near-perfect reliability in Barcelona and at the first test in Bahrain. Things did not go as smoothly in the second week in Bahrain, with Lewis Hamilton beset by technical troubles that cost him track time. The SF-26 otherwise ran flawlessly and looks a marked improvement on its predecessor. 

Rivals were quick to point to Ferrari’s reliability and impressive race pace as a sign the Italian squad could be back in business in 2026. Ferrari’s intriguing innovations and rocket starts - an area it could hold an advantage in - also turned heads during the second Bahrain test. 

At this stage, Ferrari looks behind Mercedes but just ahead of F1’s other big teams in what is expected to be a close battle at the front of the field. 

3. McLaren 

Unlike last year, reigning world champions McLaren do not appear to be heading into the new F1 season as the benchmark team. 

Overall, it was a very strong pre-season for McLaren and there are no obvious weaknesses going into the campaign, with world champion Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri racking up plenty of mileage between them. 

The Woking squad simply looks a little bit behind Mercedes and Ferrari at this stage and that is the conclusion McLaren has drawn internally. 

“I think McLaren and Red Bull are probably very similar. Ferrari and Mercedes are a step ahead."” is how team principal Andrea Stella sees things heading to Melbourne. 

4. Red Bull 

Much was made about Red Bull over the winter given the massive scale of the challenge it faced in producing its first-ever in-house power unit. 

But Red Bull can come away from pre-season testing happy with how things went. The team looks in good shape, and has exceeded its own expectations from a reliability and performance standpoint. 

Red Bull appears a step behind Mercedes and Ferrari in terms of one lap pace but its rivals are adamant it has done a better job with its energy deployment, with some pretty bold claims coming from the Mercedes camp in particular. 

5. Haas

A fairly sizeable gulf looks to be separating F1’s top four teams and the midfield, which once again is set to be an incredibly closely-matched fight in 2026. 

Arguably the biggest challenge is trying to work out which team sits top of the chasing pack, but Haas is a strong contender to be the front-runner of a tight group. The VF-26 looks a solid and well-balanced car that demonstrated competitive performance across both short and long runs. 

One advantage that could put Haas ahead of its rivals is Ferrari’s power unit, which is both reliable and fast. Haas should be fighting for points from the off and could well be at the head of the midfield - at least at the season’s start. 

6. Alpine 

After a truly horrendous 2025, Alpine enjoyed a promising pre-season test that suggests the French squad can haul itself up F1’s leaderboard this year. 

Outside of the top four teams, it was Alpine who set the fastest time in Bahrain, thanks to Pierre Gasly. The caveat here is that Gasly’s best effort was set on the softest C5 tyre, as opposed to Haas’ Ollie Bearman, who lapped a fraction slower on C4s. 

Alpine’s running was disrupted by a few reliability niggles but it was otherwise a strong pre-season. With Mercedes power in the back of the A526, Alpine should be more competitive from the off. 

7. Racing Bulls

Racing Bulls also had a productive pre-season, particularly the second test in Bahrain, where it ended up completing the second-highest number of laps behind only Mercedes. 

There were positives on the power unit side and F1 rookie Arvid Lindblad settled in quickly to his new environment by setting some fast laps at the end of pre-season testing. 

Red Bull’s sister team is firmly in the midfield pack once more but its 2026 challenger does not look as strong as Haas or Alpine at this stage. 

8. Audi 

Audi had a quietly impressive pre-season. The first team to roll out its 2026 car on track, Audi also provided a surprise by debuting a radically-different design at the first Bahrain test. 

Like Red Bull, the German manufacturer is producing its first-ever F1 engine and the early showings were positive as Audi recovered well from a troubled start to testing in Barcelona. 

Some impressive pace over longer runs on the last day of testing indicates Audi is well-placed to be a regular points contender within F1’s congested midfield. 

9. Williams 

By its own admission, Williams is heading into the new season on the back foot after a challenging winter and pre-season. 

Williams missed the entire Barcelona shakedown after failing to get its car ready in time, though it did manage to make up for lost time by clocking plenty of mileage in Bahrain. 

However, from a performance point of view, Williams isn’t where it wanted to be. The FW48 is off the pace and lagging behind Haas, Alpine, Racing Bulls, while it looks behind the Audi too. Questions also remain over just how overweight the new Williams is. 

10. Cadillac 

It was an encouraging start to life in F1 for the new Cadillac team. While Cadillac experienced some issues throughout testing, the American team made a very respectable start with solid mileage. 

As expected, Cadillac looks destined to be a backmarker. The major weakness of its car is a lack of downforce, which left the team multiple seconds off the front of the grid in testing.

However, the outlook is more positive than the team probably expected. Cadillac looks in better shape than Aston Martin, which has come as a big surprise for the team. Starting anywhere than the back row of the grid in Melbourne would be a win. 

11. Aston Martin 

It was a pre-season to forget for Aston Martin, with the team in a real mess.

The team’s highly-anticipated AMR26, the first to be designed by F1 legend Adrian Newey, not only turned up late to testing, but it looks a real handful on track, is well off the pace and has been plagued by problems. 

Adding to Aston Martin’s woes is the fact the Honda engine looks to be by far the worst on the grid, with both reliability and performance a major concern heading into the opening race. Quite remarkably, Aston Martin appears to be starting the season at the back of the pack.